Three of four buses in recent deadly crashes were unlicensed, parliament told

A startling admission by the Ministry of Works and Transport has exposed glaring weaknesses in Uganda’s road safety enforcement, with officials revealing that three of the four buses involved in recent fatal crashes were operating illegally after failing mandatory roadworthiness inspections.

The disclosure came as the Ministry appeared before Parliament’s Committee on Physical Infrastructure to account for a string of deadly accidents that have claimed dozens of lives this month.

Commissioner for Transport Regulation and Safety, Winston Katushabe, told legislators that the buses had been rejected during inspection because of poor mechanical condition but somehow found their way back onto the roads.

Among the most troubling cases is the bus involved in the Kapchorwa crash, which killed 24 people and injured 95 others. Katushabe revealed that the vehicle was operating without a valid licence after its previous licence expired on June 18, 2026, and authorities have yet to identify the driver behind the wheel at the time of the accident.

“The driver has not been identified. Police are trying to apprehend him. The bus operator could not identify the person who was driving the bus, and the bus was not licensed. These are some of the buses rejected because of their mechanical condition,” Katushabe told the committee.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the crash was caused by excessive speeding, failure to negotiate a sharp corner and the poor mechanical state of the bus. Officials also believe the driver was unfamiliar with the route, further contributing to the tragedy.

The Ministry further disclosed that the bus, which was transporting pupils of King David Junior School, Ndeje, had travelled without obtaining the required clearance from the Ministry.

Another incident examined by the committee was the July 10 crash at a railway crossing in Mukono District, involving a bus operated by Friendship Coaches. Katushabe said the vehicle was being driven by Christopher Kikomeko, 48, whose driving licence had expired in August 2023, raising fresh questions about compliance by transport operators.

In yet another fatal crash involving schoolchildren in Nawangisa, Bugweri District, on July 14, a bus belonging to Amuria High School was found to have been operating without a licence.

The driver, Abdallah Kasakya, who died in the crash, was 68 years old, exceeding the maximum age of 60 years allowed for accredited school bus drivers.

“The school bus was not licensed and the bus driver was not accredited because he was over the permitted age,” Katushabe said.

The Bugweri crash claimed 23 lives—20 aboard the school bus and three in a truck—while leaving nine others seriously injured.

The revelations prompted sharp criticism from Members of Parliament, who questioned how unlicensed vehicles managed to travel hundreds of kilometres without being intercepted.

Samuel Opio, the MP for Kole North, demanded an explanation as to how the Kapchorwa-bound bus travelled from Ndeje through Kampala and across several districts without detection.

He also challenged the Ministry to strengthen driver screening during licence issuance and renewal, arguing that basic medical assessments, including eyesight and colour vision tests, are either weak or absent.

“There are people who cannot differentiate between green and red. Do we have proper medical examinations at driving permit centres? Many of these crashes are attributed to human error, yet we are not adequately testing drivers,” Opio said.

He further questioned whether language barriers among some drivers affect their ability to interpret road signs written in English.

The parliamentary probe has renewed scrutiny of Uganda’s transport regulatory system, with lawmakers demanding tougher enforcement against operators who flout licensing requirements and stronger oversight to prevent unroadworthy vehicles from returning to public roads.

As investigations into the recent crashes continue, the Ministry faces mounting pressure to close enforcement loopholes that legislators say are costing innocent lives.